Misconceptions about Hinduism

[nameless]

And herein lies the myth.

At least thats how it was run some centuries back.

 

[Kalidas]

At least thats how it was run some centuries back.

I think its more or less greedy power hungry people taking advantage of a situation.

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

To play devil's here, the caste system - when implemented in the way it was meant to be - works very well for a lot of people. Many people like that type of order and structure in ways that have nothing to do with over powering people. Some people like as little complication in their lives as possible and more choices means more pressure.

I guess the trouble arises when those who don't necessarily thrive on structure are not permitted to break that pattern.

:camp:

 

[Aupmanyav]

Lack of friction could be also because of fear, as the lower castes were much powerless.

It was not always the case. I remember our barber spent a lot of money on works to benefit the public, a well, and a portion of a dharmasala (place to stay for travellers and pilgrims). That they were not high in the caste hierarchy did not mean that they were always poor. The chandala (out-caste) of Manikarnika Ghat (the most famous cremation ground in India) was always insanely rich, even in the times of mythological king Harischandra. He employed the king after the king had given all his possessions in charity.

 

[Aupmanyav]

At least thats how it was run some centuries back.

Centuries back, the situation was much better than what it is now. All people had their small plots of land which produced enough food. The rest of the things were either produced in the village or nearby. There was hardly any famine, there were no traders to fleece people for food grains, the rule of kings and nawabs was pro-poor, except when they wanted to build their palaces or protection walls. The relation of kings and nawabs and their populace traced back to centuries. There was a sense of responsibility between them and the populace. That is why the Hindu king of Malerkotla did not allow Hindus to harm his Muslim subjects in his state during partition of India. Even then the people were not short of food, that was provided. The first famine in India was the Bengal famine of 1770, but it was due to the wrong policies of the British India Company.

@ Kali, that answers your statement too.

 

[nameless]

I think its more or less greedy power hungry people taking advantage of a situation.

Greed is part of human nature, so they are bound to take advantage of the situation, so[IMO] better option is to not to go for it.

 

[metis]

Myth 3,

Hindus worship millions of Gods.
No, not technically. Most Hindus believe in ONE all pervading formless God.
Some believe that he/she/it manifests into different forms, or that God manifests a certain aspect of him/her/itself in a form.
Others think that this is symbolic. Some see God as ONE energy and the different forms are everything we see, us, trees, grass, cows, fish, mountains, the sea. It is really just ONE, we think it's separate but there is no separation.

Maya

There a many, many different schools in India, and the issue of how many Gods is not uniform. A close friend of mine who studied in India essentially told me that the monotheistic approach is more common in more urban areas but there's more of a polytheistic approach in more rural areas. There are six major philosophical schools of thought, again that widely differ on various matters.

Trying to define "Hinduism" is very tough because there can be so many exceptions to just about any particular belief.

 

[Kalidas]

Greed is part of human nature, so they are bound to take advantage of the situation, so[IMO] better option is to not to go for it.

Accept that is not the caste systems fault but the fault of bad people. Who mind you are also making a mochery of the opposite government system in America (Democracy). Which was the myth Vinayak was trying to dispel, that the caste system is at fault. Its like those people who blame war on Religion. Sure people use religion as an excuse to go to war, but the sorce of the problem comes from vile people who.will exist with or withour religion(Stalin is a noteable example)

 

[Aupmanyav]

You see, if you ask a Hindu if there are many Gods and Goddesses, he would say yes. If you ask a Hindu if all the Gods and Goddesses are one, (then too), he would say yes.

@ Nice point, Kali. Lord Rama embraced the Nishada and Shabari.

 

[Kalidas]

There a many, many different schools in India, and the issue of how many Gods is not uniform. A close friend of mine who studied in India essentially told me that the monotheistic approach is more common in more urban areas but there's more of a polytheistic approach in more rural areas. There are six major philosophical schools of thought, again that widely differ on various matters.

Trying to define "Hinduism" is very tough because there can be so many exceptions to just about any particular belief.

Well for the sake of simplicity we are just trying to dispel the misconceptions that outsiders have about Hinduism. One big one is we all have many Gods and Goddesses but this is just not the case for many of us. It certainly is the case for some but not all, and thus claiming it is a fact of all Hindus is a missconception.

 

[Kalidas]

You see, if you ask a Hindu if there are many Gods and Goddesses, he would say yes. If you ask a Hindu if all the Gods and Goddesses are one, (then too), he would say yes.

I certainly would lol.

 

[Vinayaka]

You see, if you ask a Hindu if there are many Gods and Goddesses, he would say yes. If you ask a Hindu if all the Gods and Goddesses are one, (then too), he would say yes.

Sort of. Depends who you ask. On the mundane level, I would say many. On the absolute level, I'd say One reality. Some call it God. Some don't. Some never think of that absolute level, whereas others never think of the mundane level.

I do not think all the Gods are one. But then I'm not a Smarta, or influenced by it.

 

[nameless]

Accept that is not the caste systems fault but the fault of bad people.

Accepted , push someone off a cliff, then blame it on gravity, i understand it now.

Its like those people who blame war on Religion. Sure people use religion as an excuse to go to war, but the sorce of the problem comes from vile people who.will exist with or withour religion(Stalin is a noteable example)

I entirely disagree on this. Religion itself is the source of problem in majority of cases, according to me.

 

[Kalidas]

Accepted , push someone off a cliff, then blame it on gravity, i understand it now.
I entirely disagree on this. Religion itself is the source of problem in majority of cases, according to me.

Oops that was supposed to be except and accept. I probably sounded like a jerk sorry.

I am not even going to touch that one. I obviously disagree and that is a debate for another thread(its probably already been done)

 

[metis]

Well for the sake of simplicity we are just trying to dispel the misconceptions that outsiders have about Hinduism. One big one is we all have many Gods and Goddesses but this is just not the case for many of us. It certainly is the case for some but not all, and thus claiming it is a fact of all Hindus is a missconception.

Yes, but just to make sure that you take what I posted correctly, I didn't say that it was a fact for all Hindus.

Namaste

 

[Kalidas]

Yes, but just to make sure that you take what I posted correctly, I didn't say that it was a fact for all Hindus.

Namaste

Of course.

Hey that's a good myth that I think NYK already posted. Us Hundus are not the same.

 

[NobodyYouKnow]

Of course.

Hey that's a good myth that I think NYK already posted. Us Hundus are not the same.

Agreed, and the differences can be very subtle.

Here, on RF, we have you, a Shakta worshiping Kali, myself, a Tantric Shaiva/Bhairavi, HlK a militant Vaishnava, Aupmanayav an Advaita Vedantist, a few ISKCON-ites, a few Sadhus....yet we are all Hindus.

Even the differences between Vinayaka's school and my own are very large, even though we are both Saivas.

This is a good point to note. Even within the one sect...even between two that worship the same God, it's like they aren't sometimes.

Vinayaka's school is more traditional, more orthodox. They worship Murugan and Ganesha and all that (I really don't know too much about what he does really).

Mine is more of a left-hand approach. I worship Shiva, Devi (Kali/Shakti), Nandi and study the Tantras, do Yoga and such.

It's just very different even though it is the same.

 

[Jaskaran Singh]

Agreed, and the differences can be very subtle.

Here, on RF, we have you, a Shakta worshiping Kali, myself, a Tantric Shaiva/Bhairavi, HlK a militant Vaishnava, Aupmanayav an Advaita Vedantist, a few ISKCON-ites, a few Sadhus....yet we are all Hindus.

HLK, a militant vaiShNava? That's the joke of the century. If you meant sexist, casteist, radical advaitin vaiShNava, then I'd agree.

 

[NobodyYouKnow]

HLK, a militant vaiShNava? That's the joke of the century. If you meant sexist, casteist, radical advaitin vaiShNava, then I'd agree.

Well, whatever he is...I still haven't established that yet...suffice to say that I should stop packing people away in boxes...I'm learning it...

 

[ShivaFan]

Namaste

What people "are" is always changing where, while at the yoga level (be it bhaka, karma, jnana) there is the teaching or full realization that we are not this body, yet as many go through the stages of life, changes in the body, child to youth to adult to parent to old age, face disease, changes all around the person including changing responsibilities and with some what can only be categorized as personal issues, issues in relation with others and changes in those relationships, as well as being surrounded or even trapped by others who may also have issues and then harass the person adding to crisis, where such change can spin out of one's comfort zone such that in such a "I feel sorry for myself" state such a person thinks "I cannot stand this world or situation (meaning actually, they cannot stand this change) and I want to escape (meaning I want to get away from this change maddness by changing myself)"....

While the principle of changing oneself to get away from change is very "Om" like, there is a problem.

Unless you have the right association, and this includes with Devas and Devi, or someone such as a Guru or a teacher or such "scout" to give guidance and example, unless you have "a little help from my friends", this might be a "finger paint exercise" of self-inventiveness and not an "oil painting", creating your own thing if you will that turns into a fixation, and you change yourself into a monster if you will, or you keep the "old head" and have 9 other new ones, or you become 10 personalities with 10 heads and speaking ten mouths of confused noise, or you simply want to engage the reactions of others to yank their chain and draw attention to yourself because you are crying out for help or sacred to be alone, or you use "changing yourself" as a drug almost and one day you decide "I am this", the next day "I am that", you switch parties here and there because the change itself distracts you from the "crisis of change", you can initially get attention from others both approval and disapproval, welcoming and rejection and "come back!" clarions, but attention nevertheless, you have an excuse to "get loud" which is also another way to get attention.

So in part, it is a question sometimes of the level of goofyness. Because it sort of comes down to how messed up a person is, and then the goofyness becomes a way to "get loud", have "many heads", draw attention, make others "suffer too", it is like being a troll at all levels.

Everyone has problems with change, but to be honest it never comes to this level for 97.25 percent, never to a point of beinging a "goofy evil jerk" and a "purposeful humbug". But then there are the one or two examples who do, and they think "I am not a goofy evil jerk, I am a pure, rare, gemstone in the ruff, and I am only a minority in the sense that the majority are all vermin and less than me".

Then they act this out, but only if they can hide behind a false identity or a uniform (such as issued by a state or perhaps an Adolf Hitler). Otherwise if standing naked like a sky-clad Jain, they want to run into a hole and commit suicide or something, or melt like the wicked witch in Oz when water is thrown on her.

Om Namah Sivaya